In 1994 the youthful R&B trio Immature issued their debut album, Playtyme Is Over, when Marques Houston was only 11-years-old. Singing lead on many of the group’s standout tracks, Marques’ star potential became evident. That same year he joined the cast of the television show Sister, Sister as the precocious Roger, displaying scene-stealing appeal up […]

When Nicole and Natalie formed Nina Sky and dropped their hit single “Move Ya Body” in 2004, the world was not ready to give them the credit they deserved. The months that followed transformed the twins from an assumed one hit wonder to a worldwide household name. From collaborations with Alchemist and Prodigy on “Hold […]

When you enter the music industry you take a chance. You work hard to perfect your craft, hope and pray to get discovered – and when you finally get that big break, you never know what tomorrow brings. The ladies of the group Allure – Alia Davis, Lalisha McLean, and Akissa Mendez – took a […]

Since her initial appearance on the acting scene, Nia Long has captured the hearts of millions. Whether it’s playing the Catholic school girl next door, the fine sista’ down the street or a sassy poetic photographer, Ms. Long definitely plays the part to the fullest by adding a little of herself into each role. Over […]

You’ve just come from checking out the new Samuel L. Jackson flick Coach Carter and couldn’t help but notice Michael Ealy, the corn-rowed, hazel-eyed cutie from the Barbershop movies. But before you run off to tell your girls about Ealy’s latest role, you may want to take a second look. That’s not Ealy hooping it […]

The road to stardom, fame and even personal happiness is filled with cobblestones and an obstacle at every turn. Nearly three years ago, songstress Tweet won mass acclaim with Southern Hummingbird – an album filled with heartfelt songs of pain, joy, love, and sorrow that audiences everywhere could relate to. Her lead single “Oops (Oh […]

In 1997, before Musiq sang about being “Just Friends,” Jill Scott stopped chicken heads from “Getting in the Way” and Bilal found his “Soul Sista,” there was Rahsaan Patterson. With his red-tinged blown-out afro, earthy fashion sense and songs filled with sentiments of love, Rahsaan Patterson was neo-soul before we even knew what neo-soul was. […]

Petite, blue-haired vixen Lil’ Mo has returned to the block, this time as a member of the southern-dominated Cash Money stable. The Long Island native who has sanctified hooks for Missy Elliot, Jay-Z and Fabolous to name a few, also paired with Ja Rule on such hits as “Put It On Me” and “I Cry” […]

Like a proud parent watching his or her child successfully progress through maturity, R&B listeners have both seen and heard the effortless progression of velvet voiced Mario. Two years ago, the Baltimore native was crooning about such innocent affairs as hair braiding and the always dreaded “friend zone”, but these days adult feelings such as […]

The idea of ‘singing twins’ oozes of a contrived marketing gimmick, however the buzz surrounding identical twin singing group Aaries has not dissipated since their subtle emergence in 1999. You might remember hearing fellow Philadelphian artist Musiq speaking highly of Ayana and Ayinke whenever he found the opportunity. Aaries’ vocals can be heard all over […]

Virginia native-turned-New Yorker Chad L. Coleman has made an impressive showing on season three of The Wire as Dennis “Cutty” Wise, a street smart yet under-educated man with a jaded past and an amazing hope for the future. After studying acting at both Virginia Commonwealth University and the Herbert Bergoff studio in New York, Chad […]

AHHA: It’s almost like between Avon and Cutty, there’s this really deep level of respect that you don’t see between a lot of the other characters. Chad: Exactly, and it speaks to…I think on a lot of levels Avon feels trapped. Every time when [Cutty] said ‘I can’t be in the game anymore’ – If […]

The year was 1984, and the streets were ablaze with Chaka Khan’s hot single, “I Feel For You”. Although many of us happened across her albums while rifling through our parents’ stacks of vinyl, this Chaka definitely wasn’t the same Chaka our parents bumped during their basement house parties. This Chaka took a chance with […]

Dionne Farris grabbed the attention of music fans in 1997 when her hit single “Hopeless” appeared on the Love Jones soundtrack. However, few took notice of the person behind the lyrics, a soft-spoken musician named Van Hunt. Rather than jump and scream for attention, he calmly waited in the wings before making his grand entrance […]

Oakland-raised songstress Keyshia Cole got her first big recording opportunity from MC Hammer while she was barely a teenager. Growing up in Oakland wasn’t easy for her, but Keyshia managed to follow the right path to build a reputation in the Bay Area music scene. She was enlisted by the likes of Messy Marv and […]

Since the debut of the “Cassanova” trio Levert in 1985, Gerald Levert has carried on the tradition of soul music that his famous father, Eddie Levert of the O’Jays’, passed on to him. Gerald embarked upon a successful solo career in 1991, and later teamed for two projects with Johnny Gill and Keith Sweat under […]

“He was better than me, he was better than Jason [Kidd], he was better than everybody.” —Gary Payton “There is no comparison to Gary [Payton], myself or Brian Shaw.” —Jason Kidd “He is superior to all of us, me, Gary [Payton], and Jason [Kidd].” —Brian Shaw “He would 360 dunk over a car.” —Drew Gooden […]

Photo courtesy of StacieJ.com Any faithful viewer of this season’s run of the NBC reality show The Apprentice already knows the drama that surrounded the dismissal of the Harlem business owner, introduced to us as “Stacie J”, in the third week of the series. It is easy to think that you know a reality television […]

AHHA: I heard everybody else use the word crazy towards you. Stacie: It was never him [saying it to me on the air]. To me, it was the only reason everyone [was] saying the word crazy is because he was consistently saying crazy. In my firing [they] obviously consulted their legal department, because the first […]

Hassan Johnson has developed a knack for being a bad guy. Not in real life, of course, however the popular HBO series The Wire, in which Hassan plays the incarcerated schemer Wee-Bey, is full of characters so richly well developed – it’s got to feel good being bad on such a hot show. While still […]